Commentary — Making subsidies more flexible and removing legal hurdles are two of several changes the Federal Communications Commission should make to advance wireless infrastructure development, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said Wednesday at the Competitive Carriers Association conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Another adjustment they should consider is providing their Commissioners with research that they’ve unearthed to provide direction rather than …
Central States Towers picks up $75m in new debt and equity financing
CIT Group Inc. announced that CIT Communications & Technology Finance served as sole lead arranger and administrative agent in a senior secured credit facility to Central States Tower (CST), a leading middle market operator and developer of wireless communications towers and a portfolio company of Sweetwater Capital, LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “We have maintained a strong …
American Tower topples an Oklahoma tower while its sole tenant was broadcasting
UPDATE: Sept. 25, 2015 – Dale Bolton, High Plains Public Radio’s director of programming and operations, said today that he has been informed that an American Tower Corporation representative had called another individual within his organization on Friday afternoon prior to taking the KGUY tower down the following morning for safety reasons. However, Bolton said,”They were unable to get to Guymon to …
Key analyst likes Crown Castle, but sees American Tower with less acquisition exposure
Morningstar analyst Michael Hodel has provided an excellent overview of the industry’s three publicly-traded companies, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International, and SBA Communications. Whereas there are almost daily yawn-inducing recommendations from analysts, Hodel’s insight and extensive analysis is worth the read. Although Hodel has previously said that his favorite amongst the towercos is Crown Castle, because he thinks it …
Clear Channel Outdoor Americas and Vertical Bridge announce landmark partnership
Vertical Bridge, the largest U.S. private owner and manager of wireless telecommunication infrastructure and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of iHeartMedia Inc., today announced the signing of an exclusive multi-year agreement for the management and marketing of wireless deployment on Clear Channel Outdoor America’s (CCOA) billboards and other out-of-home assets in 45 of the top 50 U.S. markets. …
India High Court: Use your landline if you don’t want cell towers installed
In a rather unorthodox response to a petition by residents alleging that a cell tower was being constructed in their neighborhood in violation of a local recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee, India’s Delhi High Court dismissed their plea and basically said that residents of Vasant Kunj should stop using their cell phones and revert back to using landlines, and then, …
Indiana looking for firm to manage its 300 cell towers on park land
Indiana is working on plans to design and build Indiana’s first new inn at a state park in more than seven decades, and Gov. Mike Pence has said the lodge will be paid for solely by the leasing of untapped capacity of more than 300 cell towers on DNR land. None of that cell capacity has been leased yet, state …
Time Warner’s fiber-optic backhaul supports close to 20,000 of the country’s cell towers
Charter Communications’ bid for Timer Warner Cable appears to have little opposition, and the $55 billion deal might be approved by the FCC by the end of the year. Included in the sale are two important industry assets, towers and backhaul. Although Time Warner’s total of 653 structures hasn’t grown considerably over the years, but will be complemented by Charter’s …
New top 100 U.S. tower owners unveiled with some first-time players and loss of a key owner
Wireless Estimator released today its top 100 tower companies in the U.S. that identifies the same three top consolidators as in previous years, American Tower Corp., Crown Castle International and SBA Communications taking the lead. Although first place American Tower is slightly ahead of Crown in the Top 100 U.S. Tower Companies list by less than 200 towers, it is an …
Subcarrier Communications acquires its Texas-based site management competitor
An industry pioneer in high performance wireless infrastructure development, Subcarrier Communications, announced its $2.1 million purchase of Houston, Tex.-based, AC Site Management. “The purchase of AC Site Management represents a logical next step in creating substantial value for Subcarrier, and for our customers,” said Subcarrier Communications CEO, John Paleski, adding that current and prospective Subcarrier customers “benefit through new service …
SBA disses DAS and small cells, preferring the macro site tower business for growth
Business relationships have an average shelf life of less than five years primarily because there is a lack of cohesiveness in shared visions. Tower owner SBA Communications and ExteNet Systems, a neutral host provider with some of the most profitable DAS locations in America, fit that model and decided to call it quits after five years, even though they seemed to …
Iconic Sutro tower’s history is provided with suppositions of ’60s backroom politics and collusion
If the legendary Mount Sutro broadcast tower in San Francisco was being proposed today it is unlikely that it would have much of a chance for approval as residents would mobilize in force to let city commissioners know of their concerns through open meetings and social media. But in the 1960s San Francisco had really bad television reception and perhaps …
Lawsuit win sees contractor’s claim doubled and ownership of 32 towers up for grabs
A court decision requiring the owners of tower consolidator Horizon Towers of Marblehead, Mass. to have 32 of their towers “liquidated and distributed or otherwise used to satisfy the creditors of debtor Eastern Towers, Inc.,” also awarded Timberline Construction of Canton double its owed $264,774 for new site builds due to an unfair or deceptive act. The open market will …
200-plus tower deal floats Vertical Bridge to 5th largest U.S. tower owner
CiG Wireless Corp., a leading owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure in the U.S. has announced the signing of an agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Vertical Bridge Holdings, LLC, a wireless communication towers company. Vertical Bridge is acquiring the company’s tower assets, including a geographically diverse group of more than 200 tower sites, in a transaction …
Climbing higher for techs will not be possible in Google’s grand plan
Although Google is currently developing wireless service plans that will prohibit tower technicians from climbing to maintain the transceivers – because they’ll be at an elevation between 23,000 and 65,000 feet in the stratosphere – this week’s announcement that the company intends to offer MVNO wireless connectivity to customers in the U.S. will also exclude techs from working on Google-owned …
Competitive spirit can be cutthroat in leasehold ground wars of towercos
Although the nation’s major tower owners present a public face of spirited friendly competition and collective initiatives to ensure worker safety, when it comes to protecting their interests it can be a no holds barred battle between them to keep their most valuable assets, their long-term leases. One clash got so nasty that the counter-complainant wanted a leasehold aggregator’s executives …
Crown is exploring sale of its Australian towers and settling in the US
Crown Castle International Corp. announced today that it plans to explore the potential sale of its Australian subsidiary (CCAL). “In light of recent unsolicited offers we have received for our interest in CCAL, we have determined that fully exploring the options available to us will ensure the best long-term results for our shareholders,” stated W. Ben Moreland, Crown Castle’s President …
ATC leads slightly over Crown with their $5 billion 11,324 Verizon tower deal
American Tower Corporation today announced that it has been the successful suitor in acquiring the rights to approximately 11,324 wireless communications towers and purchase approximately 165 additional towers from Verizon Communications, Inc. for $5.056 billion. Under the agreement, American Tower will have the exclusive right to lease and operate the Verizon towers for a weighted average term of approximately 28 …
Varied opinions surface regarding Grain’s nTelos tower buy for $41 million
Although conversations at a Florida Wireless Association networking social of over 200 attendees last night ranged from carrier cap ex expenditures to planned business expansions of a number of key players, one frequent topic was Sarasota Fla.-based Grain Management’s purchase this week of 103 nTelos Wireless’ cell towers for $41 million. However, opinions differed regarding whether the $398,000 per-tower-deal made …
Vertical Bridge picks up iHeartMedia’s towers for $400 million
iHeartMedia today announced a deal to sell an undisclosed group of its radio towers to tower owner Vertical Bridge for up to $400 million. The broadcaster will continue to use the towers in a lease arrangement after the purchase closes, which is expected in the first quarter of 2015. iHeartMedia says the sale will help optimize its balance sheet and maximize …
